Caroline Ryder, once known as Colly, lost a crucial part of her past in the free swinging sixties. When Aidan Rose meets her twenty years later, he has a hard time believing she is not the fifteen year old who fueled his teenage fantasies. Their coming together seems preordained and Colly experiences another awakening to both the pain and the joy of her forgotten past. Lynn Rogers’ style continues to mature and this book will not disappoint her fans. – Dale Aycock, Author and Editor

A Valley of Ashes
Homeless in a Nuclear WarehouseBy Lynn Rogers
Rogers’ sixth book, A Valley of Ashes, depicts life on the edge of Silicon Valley after 9/11 events spark secret operations in an historic factory. It is revealed throught the viewpoints of Darla Hull who picked fruit here as an “Arkie” child—and Paddy Kovarik who lost his job to the Dot Com crash and drink.
Fate throws these thwarted mid-life lovers in with deposed idealists like Orthodox leasing manager Mort Machlein, frightened youth like Jeffrey Baudelaire, punk Goth Zazzy, and other homeless hiding in the factory. Action runs from the beginning of Rosh Hashana to its conclusion when deadly forces explode. The misfits reach for earth beneath concrete and for safety found only in each other’s heart.

With deft strokes, Rogers reveals these offbeat and marginalized characters often through a single feature, like “Darla’s sunspotted hands.” She humanizes the plight of these somehow appealing characters trying to find their place in a troubled and dangerous world.—Yuba City Slim, Folk Bard A ghostly light tower illuminates this suspenseful tale and reveals the seamy side of the South Bay. Another cinematic journey worthy of Hollywood’s attention.—Robert Burrill, Filmmaker One of the most refreshing works of fiction I’ve read in a very long time. The writing was superb—so good, I felt envy. The poignant characters pop off the page and are all around you as you read—three dimensional. A Valley of Ashes is a satisfying, fulfilling read.—Emilio Alvarado, Author, Plowshares and RiverEdge

The latest book by Lynn Rogers is captivating, humorous and lyrical in her Beat style.
Much like her other books, Born in Berkeley, Where the Flowers Have Gone,
The Rainbow’s Daughter, A Valley of Ashes, Shadow Over the Beach,
Parting the Veil and A Burst of Sunrise,
this is the continuing saga of Flower Child Caroline Ryder.

Lynn Rogers, M.A., born in Berkeley, has published articles, fiction and illustrations.
She teaches Creative Writing through Metro Ed in San Jose.

On with the saga . . .
Donna Vasquez, a fan of the Caroline Ryder series has some feedback after reading Shadow Over the Beach.

“I liked how Colly wanted to go back to Virginia Beach to connect with her late mentor. Colly was very loyal to Elizabeth and tenacious when people blocked her from talking about the truth of what had happed to exile Elizabeth forty years earlier. They pretended not to remember, but Colly didn’t give up; she researched her mentor’s life. She met interesting characters like the hot mess, Christian; it was good for her cathartic I think, to be with him. It helped break–a little bit–the spell she was under from Aidan Rose. She reclaimed her empowerment by going on the journey and getting the education Cayce’s Atlantic University provided. I am very excited to see what happens in the next sequel. She’s a great character who pulls a lot of living into her saga.”

I read Revenge of the Goddess and was heartened by its beauty and expression of the complicated dynamics we as humans beings experience in our life journeys. Rogers’ characters are willing to explore the darker aspects of themselves; Nothing is simple and there are ways we can empower ourselves. Colly acknowledges her vulnerability but acts from her strength. By exploring what is unknown or scary to us, we might be able to learn something. The transgender community her friendship with Ken reveals, could be looked at as a different culture. When we open ourselves up to the gems from experiences outside our scope, we are all enriched.

Rev. Janet Childs, Composer/Musician, director of the Centre For Living With Dying

Sequel to Revenge of the Goddess
Parting the Veil
A novel by Lynn Rogers

If you’ve already read Revenge of the Goddess you’ve got to read this.

Caroline Ryder has taken dark Goddess power into her own hands.
Dominance and Submission, the rogue professor Aiden, transvestite Ken, former cult leader Daisy and Mistress Laurie sing a song of farewells.

When Caroline Ryder determines to “live out her novels and write out her life,” she encounters a Southern writer who also has a “complicated life”. He calls her from karmic entanglements to the timeless realm of soul mates beyond time.

The old port town of Alviso, nestled in the southernmost point of San Francisco Bay, was busy long before the gold rush. It began in the 1700s as a landing for Mission Santa Clara, where Californios drove oxcarts heavy with cowhides and tallow to load aboard ships bound for New England and Europe. Later immigrants disembarked from paddle-wheel steamers to establish farms and businesses throughout the South Bay. Quicksilver from the New Almaden mines, lumber from the Santa Cruz Mountains, and grains and produce of the Santa Clara Valley all passed over these weathered docks. Several prominent entrepreneurs, including James Lick, got a foothold here, and its yacht harbor, now echoing only the slap of wasteblackened marsh water on mud-bound boats, once drew the likes of Jack London to its colorful saloons, gambling dens, and bordellos.

Gifted young Caroline Ryder comes of age in one of the most pivotal decades of our time. Tormented by her disturbed mother, she doesn’t fit into the materialistic sameness of her San Francisco Bay Area “Tupper’s Park” neighborhood. Identifying with the plight of southern blacks, she joins the Civil Rights movement, encounters pacifists, hears Beat literary voices and radical educators at Pacific High, explores her sexuality at Big Sur, and boosts the anti-Vietnam marches in Berkeley, city of her birth.

As the shadow of the drug culture falls over this post-Beat, pre-Hippie idealism, sixteen year old Caroline is catapulted to Mexico where she hitchhikes with nineteen year old Nors and hides out briefly with writer Ken Kesey’s colorful enclave.

When she finally enters U.C. Berkeley at seventeen, she is called a “dirty Hippie” by sorority types who will later claim the Summer of Love as their own. But Caroline Ryder, who lived it, will always know better.

Lynn Rogers, M.A., born in Berkeley, has published articles, fiction and illustrations. She teaches Creative Writing through Metro Ed in San Jose.